Hill, following a brief civil appointment at Somerset House in London, joined the army with the 97th Foot in February 1855. He was posted to the Crimea, where he served with distinction, and then went in 1858 to Calcutta. Illness forced him to return to England in October 1858; once recovered he was posted again to India, arriving July 1861. In April 1862 he returned to Calcutta and travelled by steamship to England again. A long period in Britain, broken by a visit to the Continent (including a few ascents in the region of Mont Blanc and Chamonix) and to placements in Dublin, came to an end with a posting to the West Indies (Jamaica) in February 1868. Hill visited Nassau during this time, but returned to London in September of the same year. In 1870 Hill transferred to the 63rd Infantry and by November was back in India, based in Hazaribagh. He returned to London in January, 1872, where he remained, with occasional visits to the continent, until March 1877, when he made a second visit to the West Indies (Barbados). He returned to England in November 1878, but in April 1879 was back in Barbados. Hill remained in the West Indies, excepting occasional visits to London, during the period 1880-1890 in the West Indies, mainly in Barbados. The diary closes with Hill's return to London in October 1890 and his sojourn there until the last entry for 31st December 1894.
From the description of [Diaries on military life in the Crimea, India and the Caribbean / John E. Dickson Hill]. 1854-1894. (The Alma Jordan Library, The University of the West Indies, Saint Augustine). WorldCat record id: 85822143
